California Hospitals with High Infections Rate to Come Under Greater State Scrutiny

HAI Testing Lab

Category

Press Release

Publish Date

3/27/2017

Author

Paul Cochrane

Title

California Hospitals with High Infections Rate to Come Under Greater State Scrutiny

Introduction

LA Testing offers environmental, surface and air testing services to identify microbial pathogens in healthcare settings to help prevent infections and outbreaks.

Huntington Beach, CA, March 27, 2017

Early this month, the Los Angeles Times published an article detailing an announcement from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The agency is reportedly going to begin to prioritize inspections at hospitals with high rates of patient infections.

The article states that California law requires hospitals to be inspected every three years. However, an investigation by the nonprofit group, Consumers Union, found that 131 hospitals across the state have not been inspected in the previous five years. Of these facilities, the article reports that 80 of the hospitals have infection rates that are “significantly higher than other facilities.”

These types of infections are commonly referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving healthcare treatment for other conditions. These infections can be devastating and even deadly, not to mention they add billions of dollars in medical costs each year. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that on any given day, about 1 in 25 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection.

“Many HAIs are preventable if procedures that are known to stop their spread are put in place, practiced and confirmed to be effective through inspections and testing procedures,” said Michael Chapman, Laboratory Manager of LA Testing’s Huntington Beach facility. “A critical component of an infection control program is the comprehensive cleaning and disinfection of surfaces. At LA Testing, we offer surface and air testing for a wide range of environmental microbial pathogens. Testing allows healthcare providers to ensure cleaning and disinfection procedures are effective and can also help to pinpoint the source of environmental pathogens if an outbreak has already occurred in a hospital or other type of healthcare facility.”

LA Testing is California’s leading laboratory for air quality testing of asbestos, mold, lead, VOCs, formaldehyde, soot, char, ash and smoke damage, particulates and other chemicals. In addition, LA Testing offers a full range of air sampling and investigative equipment to professionals and the general public. LA Testing maintains an extensive list of accreditations including: AIHA LAP LLC., AIHA ELLAP, AIHA EMLAP and AIHA IHLAP, NVLAP, CDC ELITE, State of California, State of Hawaii Department of Health and other states. LA Testing, along with the EMSL Analytical, Inc. network, has multiple laboratories throughout California including Huntington Beach, San Diego, San Leandro and South Pasadena.